As a matter of fact, I do find the small and innocent tale of Bilbo the Hobbit to be intelligent, emotional, and dramatic.
[In reply to]

Can't Post

As for using the word epic, most people misuse the word epic these days to mean "big, gargantuan, etc.". But Bilbo's journey is an epic, in the traditional sense of the word.

But PJ's Hobbit films adhere to the modern sensibilities of "big" films - turn everything into an action sequence with lots and lots of CGI (the biggest offender being the DoS Erebor finale).

It was absolutely possible to maintain the heart and emotion of his LotR films while stylistically adhering to Tolkien's smaller tale.

Again, this makes it sound like I hate the films. I don't at all (my DoS review is practically a rave) - I've just had to adapt my expectations. "The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."- Viggo Mortensen

Don't think to many "There and Back Again" would register - but love the idea of that being the name of a 3-box edition and love the idea even more that PJ is THINKING about (hope) a deluxe set (LOL - Can it really be true? Has the Lord of Middle Earth films really planned for my-dreamed of super-director-cut-deluxe-edition, sometime in the future? I can hope!)

Yes, a deluxe 3-set (or 6, bundled w. LOTR) nestled into a carved wooden case, with a high-res booklet of photographs and a figure of my choice created by WETA (Thorin, for me). And all the disks w. actual images instead of just plain. "Richard Armitage’s performance has been one of the best things about the new trilogy, making you believe that a hairy dwarf, so often the comedy element of the LOTR films, can be a heroic, tortured, and dangerous badass." - Den of Geek, The Hobbit: There & Back Again, 7 Apr 2014 - 07:07

I leave the web for a few hours and all hell breaks loose! :D
[In reply to]

Can't Post

I must admit I'd grown fond of "There And Back Again", but I also feel I'm warming up to "The Battle of the Five Armies" more and more with every minute that goes by. After all, it's the contents of the film that really matters. "Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake." - Henry David Thoreau

"It's not really fair to label PJ a Lucas when the source material changes between films in the way it does. Many like to claim that there's no heart or substance to the Hobbit movies, but I personally see a lot of heart and substance, perhaps even more than the book offers."

There's a reason the Hobbit sat on the shelf when I re-read LOTR roughly once a year. That's not to say there isn't a lot of depth to be found it the Hobbit, but for me it wasn't something I needed to revisit often, and there was a reason I was fairly indifferent when the news came that the Hobbit would be turned into a film.

Now the Hobbit is my favorite movie group, and I'm astounded what PJ & co. were able to build, flesh out, expand on. And the Hobbit book will always be on my shelves (can't say that for any number of books that are slated for a trip to the thrift store). A magical book, and magical films drawn from that book.

"Richard Armitage’s performance has been one of the best things about the new trilogy, making you believe that a hairy dwarf, so often the comedy element of the LOTR films, can be a heroic, tortured, and dangerous badass." - Den of Geek, The Hobbit: There & Back Again, 7 Apr 2014 - 07:07

Did I mention PJ "changing anything"? I believe my exact phrases were "creative bankruptcy" and lack of artistic integrity, ETC, making the movies the anti-LotR in terms of narrative, characterization, and general quality. Nowhere I did list the general purist complaints. But nice strawman, again. "Not tall, but broad and grim...wielding great axes. Out of some savage land in the wide East they come, we deem."

...since I just read the book a couple months ago, I would disagree with the rose colored glasses comment. So I'll just agree to disagree on what the book offers. "The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."- Viggo Mortensen

other than the usual hyperbole about TH films being the greatest achievement in the history of cinema. "Not tall, but broad and grim...wielding great axes. Out of some savage land in the wide East they come, we deem."

And the quality of debate/conversation on the boards has kind-of followed the quality of the films.

Did I mention PJ "changing anything"? I believe my exact phrases were "creative bankruptcy" and lack of artistic integrity, ETC, making the movies the anti-LotR in terms of narrative, characterization, and general quality. Nowhere I did list the general purist complaints. But nice strawman, again.

You said:

How long has it been since creative bankruptcy caught you, Peter?

I replied:

Jackson hasn't changed....

You then replied:

Did I mention PJ "changing anything"?

No you didn't, and I didn't say you did.

Is it really too much to ask for you to actually READ my post before your respond to it?

Misquoting is a fallacy as well.

And reading comprehension is a virtue.

If you're just going to make up stuff and say I said it, do you really need me in this discussion? Maybe I could save time and just let you argue with yourself!

I have never ever seen a post claiming that the Hobbit films are what you describe.I wonder where that..."usual" derives from.Oh wait..."Obsession and narrow-mindness is the trend of the 2000's and synonyms to many Tolkien fanatics"

I didn't know if he was replying to you, or someone else; I wasn't sure. He's getting all picky about the discussion on this board going downhill, and it basically seems like he's just picking fights. That's not very kindly, if you ask me. Our destiny lies above us.

Of course the way he's been overusing the phrase he might be a college freshman who just learned about the strawman fallacy. "There's no one as arrogant as a young man who's just discovered an old truth." ****************************************** https://www.facebook.com/slatesforsarah